Texts & Sources
The Satanic Bible
Anton LaVey’s 1969 book of Satanic philosophy and ritual, foundational to the Church of Satan.
Results for “greek religion”
Texts & Sources
Grimoires
A grimoire is a book or manuscript containing magical knowledge, ritual procedures, charms, conjurations, talismans, spirit catalogues, astrological instructions, prayers, or other techniques intended to produce supernatural or occult effects. The term is most strongly associated with European magic, but scholars use it within a much wider history of magical books and written ritual technologies.
Devotional Practice
Prayer in theistic Satanism
Prayer is intentional communication addressed to a deity, spirit, sacred power, or ultimate reality. It can include praise, petition, confession, thanksgiving, lament, dedication, silence, repetition, or simple direct speech. In theistic Satanism, prayer usually means addressing Satan or another spiritually real being rather than speaking only to oneself or performing a purely symbolic exercise.
Culture & Ethics
Left-hand path
The left-hand path is a modern esoteric category used for religious and magical currents that emphasize themes such as individual self-direction, antinomianism, self-deification, initiatory transformation, or deliberate engagement with symbols rejected by dominant religious culture. It overlaps with some forms of Satanism, Luciferianism, Setianism, and modern occultism, but the terms are not synonymous.
Theology & Cosmology
Monotheism and dualism
Monotheism and religious dualism concern different questions about ultimate reality. The presence of an adversary does not automatically establish two equal divine principles.
History
Witchcraft
How witchcraft has meant an accusation, a magical practice, and a modern identity, with examples from museums and trial records.
Devotional Practice
Altar
An altar is a designated place or surface used for religious devotion, ritual, offerings, sacred objects, or symbolic focus. Altars occur in many religious traditions, but their forms and meanings vary widely. In modern theistic Satanism an altar may function as a place for Prayer, Ritual, Offerings, meditation, spirit work, or the display of symbols connected with Satan and other beings.
Theology & Cosmology
Setianism
The religious philosophy associated with the Temple of Set, the Egyptian name Set, and the idea of Xeper.
History
Anton LaVey
The founder of the Church of Satan and author of The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals.
Demonology & Spirits
Abaddon
A biblical name associated with destruction, used in Revelation for the angel of the abyss.
Theology & Cosmology
Satan
Satan is a figure whose meaning has changed substantially across Jewish, Christian, Islamic, literary, esoteric, and modern Satanic contexts. In contemporary theistic Satanism, Satan may be understood as a real deity, spirit, adversary, initiator, or metaphysical intelligence. Those modern interpretations draw on, but are not identical with, the much older history of the word and character.
Culture & Ethics
Baphomet
Baphomet is an occult figure whose history connects the medieval trial of the Knights Templar, nineteenth-century ceremonial symbolism, twentieth-century Satanic iconography, and the modern public imagery of The Satanic Temple. The familiar goat-headed, winged, androgynous figure is not a medieval portrait of a secret Templar god. It was created in the nineteenth century by the French occultist Éliphas…
Demonology & Spirits
Demonology
Demonology is the study, classification, and interpretation of demons and related spirits. In Western religious history it has included theological arguments about the nature and powers of demons, lists of named spirits, explanations of possession and temptation, magical techniques for summoning or constraining spirits, and folklore about dangerous supernatural beings. Modern theistic Satanists and…
Devotional Practice
Ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic uses formally organized ritual actions. Its historical systems combine preparation, symbols, instruments, and accounts of spiritual authority in different ways.
Theology & Cosmology
Polytheism
Polytheism involves belief in multiple deities. The existence of several gods does not by itself settle their relationships, moral authority, or the forms of devotion directed toward them.
Culture & Ethics
Myth and literal belief
A religious myth can organize meaning while also receiving literal belief. Literary form, personal interpretation, and historical evidence should be discussed as related but distinct questions.
Organizations & Traditions
Theosophical Society
A modern esoteric society with stated aims of fraternity, comparative study, and investigation of nature and human capacities.
Texts & Sources
Three Books of Occult Philosophy
Agrippa’s Renaissance synthesis of natural, celestial, and religious magic.
History
Witch trials and Devil worship accusations
Witch trials produced records of accusations about harmful magic and the Devil. Those records require attention to how testimony was obtained and to the purposes of judges and writers.
Organizations & Traditions
The Satanic Temple
The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religious organization whose public principles and activism differ from those of the Church of Satan and from theistic Satanist devotion.